What I've been doing and how I'm seeing a difference

Lunges! Stepper like this one! Weight training! Walking! Push-ups! Yep, I've gotten motivated. I'm finally feeling better than I have in a couple of years and am taking advantage of it. And once you start seeing results, it just motivates you to do more.

I started out doing 10 lunges per leg and 5 push-ups per day. I then bought the stepper and started using that. It came with 2 work-out DVD's. It is unbelievable the difference I have seen in my stamina since I started this. Even when I was only doing so few reps, I was getting stronger.

J and I walked a hill last night in our neighborhood that I hadn't attempted in a very long time. I did it without taking any breaks. It's never been about my lungs (well, since transplant at least). My leg muscles have just been so weak. They are the first muscles that seem to "waste" when I get sick, and for me, they are the hardest to build up.

I've also been eating tons of protein which is making a huge difference. I've always loved almonds, but now since I'm exercising so much, I'm going through a 2 lb tub of almonds in a little over a week. I am also eating a lot of chicken, cottage cheese, and soy nuts. Anytime you consume a lot of protein you should also consume a lot of water, so I'm doing that also. My one downfall is chocolate. LOL. I'm craving it everyday! With that of course, comes insulin. :)

When asked by pre-transplanters what advice I would give them, it has always been "Build up your leg muscles", because being in the hospital decreases muscle mass so fast! Lunges are a perfect way to do this, besides the obvious... walking.

Other than me trying to act like Jillian Michaels, things have been pretty uneventful. We've been staying busy and enjoying the springtime. :) I hope all of you are too!

I've been horrible

I have done a really bad job of updating my blog. Feeling good is a wonderful thing though!

We helped my sister move today. She bought another home in the same neighborhood she's lived in for 7 years now. It's just larger. It's a beautiful house. I'm so excited for them.

I've been exercising like mad! I'm feeling good and have energy now, and I'm doing something with it! I even bought a stair stepper that Casey and I are both using. I'm going to have a booty if it kills me. LOL.

Are any of you "Twihards" going to Twicon 2009 July 30th through August 2nd? It's in Dallas, and they are going to have tons of stuff for us Twilight fans, including a Volturi masquerade ball, guest appearances from the stars of the Twilight movie, and a fansite meet up. It should be great fun. We are thinking about taking Casey, but haven't decided yet. It's quite expensive.

Is it just me, or are any other CFers/transplant recipients/other immunosuppressed people concerned about this?

I hope all of you are having a healthy, happy weekend! If you have time, check out my hubby's blog.

What I learned from one day of food journaling

Update: Apparently the site www.livestrong.com is getting twice as many hits today as normal. It was just unbelievably slow earlier today, but now I can't even log in without getting an error message. I guess everyone is trying to keep their New Year's resolutions. :) Hopefully they will fix the problem soon.

The website that Laryssa gave me about food journaling redirected me to www.livestrong.com, Lance Armstrong's website. In only ONE day, I have become addicted.

It allows you to sign up for free, create a profile, keep a daily food and exercise journal, take challenges (such as the "drink more water" challenge), and has tons of great articles about getting healthy. Jason and I both started our food journals yesterday and we were both astounded at the calories we ate!! Jason wants to lose about 10 pounds. He wants to lose about a pound a week, so it calculated how many calories he needs a day to do just that. He went over by 700 calories yesterday!!! Holy cow! Most of it had to do with the fact that we went to PF Changs for dinner, but still... holy cow!

I am at a good weight now after gaining some weight post-transplant, but I desperately need to get in shape. Think... deflated balloon... haha. According to this website, I should be eating 1600 or so calories a day and of course exercising to maintain that weight. I ate over 2,200 calories yesterday. I burned some on the treadmill, but not that many.

I see now why my diabetes educators have always told me to keep a food journal. You can really monitor what goes in!! It even breaks down the percentage of protein, fat, and carbs you are getting. How cool is that? To build muscle, of course I need to be getting a lot of protein. I'll be watching that closely.

For those of you needing to drink more water, journaling will help you do that, because after you add all of the foods you eat, you don't want to have to go back in and add all those sugary, calorie-filled drinks. It is amazing how many calories you get if you are drinking several soft drinks, coffees and sweetened teas a day. I read an article last week about how those who drink diet soft drinks might be gaining weight. It increases your appetite for sweet foods. More reason to drink water!

A big thing for me is eating a low sodium diet. I have to do that for the rest of my life. Being on prednisone causes a lot of sodium retention, and anyone who has had a kidney transplant has to eat a low sodium diet to protect their new kidney. The website gives you sodium content of all of the foods you eat. I will now be able to easily track the amount of salt that goes in.

Livestrong.com also has all of your popular restaurants listed, so there is no more guessing about how many calories you are consuming when going out to eat. We put in the dishes we had at PF Changs last night, and it gave us all of the nutritional information on that dish. Since it was Jason's and Mom's birthdays, they were given these 2 mini-desserts. I mean they were tiny. Well, they had over 300 calories each in them!!! Amazing!

This is a way to start the New Year off right. Start journaling, and I bet you that you will have more willpower to not only eat fewer calories, but to eat healthier in 2009!!

How to get in shape by summer

Some people have to lose 20 or more lbs, some people have to lose 5, and some people have nothing to lose, but definitely need to get toned. Whatever it is for you.. hopefully these tips will help....

1.) Ya gotta start now! Don't wait until May to say... "Oh, I have to be in shape before I go to the beach in June". That just won't work, and you will feel horrible about yourself.

2.) Exercise! Ughh.. you say??? Well, it's really easier than it sounds. If you are used to doing NOTHING, then take a 15 minute walk with your dog, or get on the treadmill for 10 minutes. It doesn't sound like much, but you will eventually start walking more, and isn't doing a little something better than doing nothing at all?

Also, get some small handheld weights. Do a few repetitions while you watch your favorite show. If you can't invest in weights, then use soup cans. Again, it's better than nothing.

Buy an exercise DVD and start off doing 5 minutes of it. Don't try to do the whole thing. It does nothing but leave you feeling like a failure. I've always been one to jump right in and try to do the entire DVD on the first day. I have learned that not only does that make my body so sore I can barely get out of bed the next day, but usually that's it for me... I don't even try again.

3.) Diet! This sounds horrible I know. But by diet, I don't mean invest in Jenny Craig, or Nutrisystem meals. I just mean monitor what goes in. If you are a chocolate lover, don't cut out chocolate completely, b/c then you will find yourself getting a pound of M&M's and eating them in one sitting. Just limit yourself to 10 M&M's a day, or 3 bites of that chocolate cake instead of the whole thing. I heard that you have to walk the entire length of a football field to burn off the calories of 1 M&M. That's crazy!

Another thing here is choose good foods. When we went to Italy, I was so amazed at all the fit people there. Not only do they walk instead of drive, but they eat good foods. They don't eat all of the processed foods we eat here in America. We had 4 course meals there, but it consisted of a healthy salad (no iceberg lettuce, no croutons or cheese, and only oil and vinegar dressing), a SMALL bowl of pasta, a meat and fresh vegetable, and a light dessert. Of course, the first thing I wanted when I got back to the States was a cheeseburger, but going over there truly did change how my family eats. It's sad that here in America, if you want to eat good, fresh, wholesome foods, you are going to pay for it. It's cheaper to eat at McDonald's and that's why we have so many obese people living here.

4.) Drink water! And I mean lots of it. This is probably the biggest one! Not only will it make your skin healthy, but it will help curb your appetite. I have 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day, and the ONLY other thing I drink is water. I keep a liter bottle beside me at all times; whether I'm sitting on the couch, driving somewhere, or at the mall.. I have that bottle with me. I have found that since I started drinking water, I can't even drink a soft drink. It tastes absolutely disgusting to me. You will be surprised just how much water you can drink if one is beside you all day.

5.) Eat at least 6 small meals a day and don't skip meals.. ever! I don't care what anyone says.. your stomach DOES shrink if you start eating smaller meals. Eating 6 small meals a day will actually help you. If you skip meals, your metabolism will slow down.. that's not what you want.

6.) Don't beat yourself up if you cheat. If you skip a week of exercise, then think nothing of it.. just get on the treadmill and forget all about it. We are human, and we are going to eat that whole piece of cake sometimes. It's ok, and it doesn't mean we have failed. 

7.) Per Laryssa's request, I am adding another tip... Start a food journal. My diabetes educators have always told me to do this. I'm not very good at it!!! I will start one and then after a couple of days, I'm done. Laryssa pointed out that there are online journals that you can use, and hey... I might even stick to it if I can do it online!! Here is one website that I found, but I haven't really looked it over, so although it advertises as being "free", make sure you read the entire thing first. It's www.fitday.com.

Sound easy??? No??? Ok, it isn't! BUT, it is definitely worth it!

Get started today and you will be bikini ready (or at least a cute one-piece ready) by the time beach season rolls around!

Good Luck!

Today's appointment at Duke

Mom and I are home from Durham! We were actually out of Duke by 10:15 this morning, but we stopped over at Jason's sister's house on the way home, and then we stopped for lunch.

My staples are out! It feels SO much better. They did put steri strips on, which will stay in place for about 2 weeks. We addressed several issues today. One being my blood pressure. I have been retaining some fluid, and have actually gained 5 lbs over the past 2 days. They said it was normal to do this for about 3 months post-transplant as the new kidney adjusts and takes over all of its functions. They started me back on a diuretic and said I should lose the fluid almost immediately. This will also help my blood pressure. Most likely, I won't have to start a b.p. med. The docs told me to monitor my b.p. and adjust the diuretic accordingly. They don't want me to get dehydrated.

I have been drinking 2 liters of water a day. That is a "generic" amount they tell you to drink post-transplant. Since I am so small, the docs today told me not to force the fluids like I have been. It could be some of the reason I'm retaining so much fluid. They said to just drink when I'm thirsty. It will be a relief not to have to force those 2 liters down.

Another thing we addressed today was the prednisone. It is causing my chronic sinusitis to flare up, so they started weaning my dose TODAY! I took 25 mg today instead of 30. How sweet that is! In 14 days, if everything is ok with my blood work, I can reduce it to 20. This should also help with b.p. and blood sugar issues, and of course my mania and insomnia. I may not notice much difference until I get down to 15 mg, but it's coming sooner than expected.

I have been having some heartburn at night even though I've had the stomach wrap surgery to correct the reflux and I'm on Prilosec twice a day, so they switched my med to Nexium, which I have been on before. Sometimes I just need a change in medication, and things get better.

I didn't get my stent out today. I have an appointment to go back in 2 weeks to see the doc and I'll get it out then. If everything is ok with my blood work today (I should find out later today or tomorrow), then I go back on the 17th.

Overall.. a really great appointment. I was getting so frustrated last night because of the fluid retention, and because my fibromyalgia is started to act up again. My ankles are hurting and I'm walking slower because of it. I'm still getting on the treadmill everyday, which actually helps the fibromyalgia. I'll continue to do that, but if things get worse, I may have to start an anti-depressant, which is thought to help with the pain for some reason.

I hope all of you are having a great day!

UPDATE: Duke called.. labs look great!!

Mania Shmania

My mania has taken over the past couple of days. Yes, this prednisone is making me totally manic. My mind won't slow down, I am talking too fast, I can't sleep at night. I never knew what people who suffer from Bipolar disorder go through when they have manic episodes.. I probably still don't.. but I do have a clue now. Even though I go down to 25 mg of prednisone on the 10th of December, I probably won't notice much difference until I get to about 15 mg which will be sometime in January.

On the plus side of that, I am on the treadmill everyday and just have tons of energy to get things done. I still cannot push, pull, or lift more than 5 lbs., but am not finding that too hard. Cooking and minor cleaning is easy. I am getting in much needed shape after a lot of muscle wasting over the past year. In about 3 weeks, I can start adding some pilates to my workout, so that will really help.

Casey went shopping today with her cousins. She was really excited. It worked out really good that I went the other night. I was able to avoid the crowds today, which I'm sure were just swarming with colds and other viruses. One of Casey's Christmas presents isn't available online until the middle of January, and the store at the mall isn't putting it on the shelves until Sunday night. Jason is off work on Monday, and he, Casey and I will go to the mall after I pick her up from school. She and Jason can just go do their thing while I do some shopping for her.

As far as Christmas lists go, I know what I'm getting most people. Jason is actually the hardest to shop for. I think men tend to be pickier than women about some things. Anything related to his PS3 though would probably be a hit.

Jason is at work, and I really need to get out of the house. I am not released to drive yet, and it's driving me crazy. We will go somewhere tomorrow.. maybe just run errands, and out to dinner, but at least it will get me out of the house. I am trying to avoid going out to eat too much, because I'm on a low sodium diet and it's very hard to eat low sodium when you are at a restaurant. Sunday, we are having a late lunch with my family to celebrate Thanksgiving since everyone was sick on Thanksgiving day. They are all feeling better!!

I'm off to do the treadmill. I'm really putting some miles on that thing. It's amazing how much more useful it is as a piece of exercise equipment as opposed to a place to hang clothes! :)

Too hot to go outside and exercise?

I am always searching for that "perfect" workout video. I have been through so many, I cannot even count them. I just ordered another, and I'm hoping it will have the results I want, and give me the motivation I need to continue exercising. It has gotten excellent reviews from what I've read. Click here to purchase. I am hearing that people are seeing results as early as 2 weeks after starting this video. I'll write a review as soon as I get it and start working out to it... that is if I can walk to the computer. :)

How out of shape can one girl be?

I am realizing now just how out of shape I am since having the flu this winter. I have started walking 1 to 2 miles a day again, and my joints feel like I'm 80 years old. LOL. My physical therapist told me a long time ago that when your muscles atrophy (like mine have done from being sick this year), you use your joints more, and they have to start taking over a lot of the work. My knees and hips are very sore now, and I'm trying to build my quadriceps up to take over some of the work load. I am also doing some weights at home, and those dreaded lunges that are supposed to be so good for the gluts and quads. I really loathe getting back in shape after being out of shape for so long, but I know I will feel better when I do. I would like to gain about 20 lbs of muscle, but I know that probably won't happen until after my kidney transplant. 

At least I am on my way to being in better shape for the transplant.. and a big plus is... I'm sleeping better now that I'm back to exercising. It's amazing what a little endorphins can do for you!!!